


Looking Through a Window

by phoenix_feathers_and_cacti



Series: a door closes [1]
Category: Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Episode: s01e17 Queen for a Day, Gen, Not A Fix-It, why am i like this?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 11:02:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13363299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix_feathers_and_cacti/pseuds/phoenix_feathers_and_cacti
Summary: Quirin wasn't fast enough to take his son's place in Queen for a Day. It ends about as well as anyone expected.OrThe what-if story in which Varian didn't lose a father but instead Quirin lost a son, nobody asked for and absolutely nobody wanted but got one anyways.





	Looking Through a Window

**Author's Note:**

> This fandom is so small, and probably deserves better. I just couldn't get out of my mind about what would happen if it had been Varian and not Quirin encased in the rocks. Also the storm happened before the king and queen left, but it still turned deadly quickly.
> 
> Nevertheless, I hope you can enjoy.

“ _Daddy?_ ”

Whatever Quirin was about to say- whatever reprimand or harsh command in what was growing apparent as a futile attempt to get his son to see some sense- died in the back of his throat. His tongue turned into cotton, and he tasted ash in the back of his throat but none of that compared to what he felt when he turned and saw Varian’s lower torso encased in amber colored rock.

It was growing out from the black rocks that eaten most of Old Corona. Probably most of the country if anybody inside the castle was honest, which _they weren’t_ and that had been fine if Varian wasn’t so stubborn. Varian just had to find a cure. Varian just had to save their town. Varian just had to try to solve everything on his own.

Varian who had rocks wrapped around his waist and grey eyes shining so brightly with his fear, and suddenly whatever they had been arguing about didn’t matter.

“ _Varian_ ,” Quirin heard himself gasp, voice void of anything except fear.

Real fear, the kind that made his stomach shrivel to the size of a raisin and sent cold fingers trailing down his spine leaving only cold in its wake. Varian’s eyes seemed to match what Quirin was feeling and his child had no business looking like that. So small and vulnerable. Like it would take close to nothing to snuff him out and nobody would even know.

“Varian,” Quirin repeated, hands folding at the back of his son’s neck as he bent forward- pressing their foreheads together.

Varian didn’t fight him. Varian melted into his touch, staring up at his father with that look that made Quirin’s chest painfully tight. His grey eyes no longer reflected the fear he surely must feel, only trust that his father was going to make this right. That his father was going to fix this.

Quirin didn’t even know what _this_ was. His son had always been so bright- smarter than his own good- and with that brain came a stubbornness that rivaled his own. A stubbornness and a need to make his father proud of him, and Quirin couldn’t lose his son like this.

His words jumbled up inside his brain, and even though Varian was looking at him expectantly Quirin was drawing to a blank. He didn’t know what to say. Had even less of an idea of what to do. All he knew was that if he didn’t figure out something then he was going to lose his son- possibly forever.

“It’ll be fine,” Quirin promised, “You’re going to be fine. I promise.”

_You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep._

Varian nodded. The amber had encased both his wrists now so he couldn’t move. He couldn’t stop as Quirin forced himself to pull away- the hardest thing, he thinks to himself, he’s ever done.

“Daddy, _please_ -” Varian begged, back to sounding lost and confused and so very childish.

Now that they were no longer touching it seemed Varian finally seemed to notice the predicament he was in. He tried moving his arm but failed, and his eyes took on a helpless expression. Still the rocks grew, stretching and encasing and Varian wasn’t very big. He’ll be swallowed in no time.

“You’re going to be fine,” Quirin promised one last time as he inched backwards, reluctant to leave Varian alone but knew he needed to. This was over his head, and he desperately needed help.

“Daddy, don’t leave me,” Varian choked but Quirin didn’t listen.

He told himself it was for Varian’s sake. That this wouldn’t be the last time he got to see Varian’s expressive eyes staring back at him.

{…}

Corona was obviously different from last Quirin rode up to its gates, horse having pushed past its limits several towns ago. Snow was covering the ground: thick and cold and mostly ice. It had been exciting at first because everyone loves a snow day. Now it had turned nearly deadly, and the storm that was bound to follow will be _catastrophic_.

That might have mattered to Quirin before but now all he saw was his son- impossibly small and vulnerable as he was overcome by amber colored rocks. Rocks his son had created as a production for the king’s aloofness.

King Frederic knew about the rocks. It was his _duty_ to know about them, but it had befallen his judgement to ignore them. Ignore the way it destroyed his kingdom. Ignore the way it took people from their homes. Ignore it all for personal reasons and Quirin had been more than willing to keep his secrets but that had been _before_.

Now he ignored the way the guards demanded for him to stop. He shrugged off their hands, shoving them away as he made his way through the winding hallways.

“Frederic!” he shouted, eyes narrowed and hands curled into tight fists as he made his way to the throne room where the king was certain to be, “ _Frederic!_ I know you can hear me!”

He found the king in his throne room. Most of the citizens of the city were huddled under thick grey blankets, wooden cups clutched in their pale hands. Their eyes were wild- frantic- as they flickered from the roaring fire to the guards standing sentry. It seemed even they could tell something was unnaturally wrong.

A girl, who had her blonde hair up in a thick braid that hung down to her waist, was standing beside the king. Her green eyes had taken an expression of concern as they shifted around the room, and unlike the other people present in the room she didn’t look intimidated to be there.

 _Rapunzel_ , his brain supplied, _the lost princess._

Her eyes found him first, and she seemed to recognize him. A faint memory of her being in his village, around her son, played through his mind but he pushed it back. He didn’t need her. He needed her father.

“ _Frederic!_ ” he shouted starting forward but hands finally caught him and jerked him backwards, “Frederic, I need you to come with me! It’s my son! He’s in danger! The rocks- they-”

Beside her father the princess gasped, green eyes widening as she turned to look at her father. The king’s face didn’t change though he did wave his hand in dismissal of his guards. He felt their hands fall away, and he straightened his spine, meeting the king’s eyes unrelentingly.

“I cannot possibly leave the kingdom in its current state,” Frederic said, “I’m sorry, but I cannot help you.”

The words- the denial- cut deeper than any weapon could. It seemed his lungs forgot how to work, and all he could do was stare as images of his son played through his head. The princess, it seemed, held no such burden.

“Father, no!” she exclaimed, green eyes wide with horror.

She reached out to her father, pleading for him to see sense. It was a bold move, and probably would’ve worked if the circumstances had been different.

“Rapunzel, mind your place,” Frederic snapped at her before turning to Quirin with slight hesitance in his eyes as he continued, “Quirin, we are under a state of emergency. We cannot risk the safety of this kingdom for a single person. _Regardless_ of who they are.”

Rapunzel gasped, hands cupped around her mouth as she stared at Quirin with that same helpless expression Varian had worn when Quirin had left him. Quirin could only shake his head in denial, shock numbing most of his emotions.

“I kept your secrets,” Quirin heard himself say in the same numb tone he was currently feeling, “I did everything you asked of me. My _son_ -”

Frederic’s eyes widened the tinniest bit. It wasn’t until then that Quirin realized what he was saying- what secrets he was about to spill- and he mentally told himself to stop. Then hands fell upon him once more and he was drug backwards. This time the king did nothing to stop them.

That was when everything bubbled over.

“No!” Quirin screamed, “You can’t do this! My son! Frederic, I’ve kept your secrets! The least you can do is help me now! Frederic!”

The king watched for a heartbeat longer before turning his back, seemingly sealing the last nail in Varian’s proverbial coffin.

{…}

“Varian!’ Quirin shouted upon returning, door leaving a hole in the wall from where it struck but he didn’t care. He needed to know- needed to hope.

Varian didn’t answer. Varian couldn’t. All that was left was the frightened look of someone who watched their last family member disappear out in the night and a permanent reminder of Quirin’s failure.

“No. _Nonononono_ ,” Quirin denied as he stumbled for the first time in a long time, trying to re-gather his feet underneath him as he made his way across the room.

Varian’s frozen face stared back, unseeing. Quirin could only gaze helplessly back, knees folding underneath him as the wind beat against their house. The storm was becoming something dangerous and if something wasn’t done then it would destroy most of Corona.

Quirin found the thought oddly comforting.

Frederic _knew_ about the rocks- had for some time- and he’d done nothing. Quirin had let him, had _helped_ him, and it cost him his child. His _son_. His only child with a toothy smile and bright grey eyes and a burning desire to do something right and make his father proud.

His fingers folded around the amber rock keeping him from his son as his legs gave out underneath him. Varian made no indication that he noticed and Quirin had stopped expecting him to. Not when he touched his son’s face and felt only uneven cold.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured brokenly head tipping forward, “I’m so sorry, son. I’ll make this right. I promise. I’ll figure out whatever this is, and I’ll save you. And everyone who tries to stop me will pay. I swear it.”

And when the words left his mouth the king’s face flashed across his. The king. Corona. The entire kingdom. They’re all to blame.

Eventually- he wasn’t quite sure when- the storm stopped and news of the kingdom surviving the night soon arrived at Old Corona. All it took was sacrificing Quirin’s son, who had only wanted to help. Quirin should’ve recognized that. He should’ve helped instead of keeping secrets.

“I’m sorry,” Quirin repeated brokenly, legs numb and head pounding as he laid against the rock that encased his son, “I’m sorry son. I promise the people responsible for this will pay. They. Will. _Pay_.”


End file.
